Tuesday, May 7, 2013

And then I became a Girl Scout Leader

I've been running a Girl Scout troop, since last year. This weekend I survived our first campout—although we slept in a cabin, with a kitchen and bathrooms, and the roughest patch was when the water for the girls' pasta dinner took 45 minutes to boil in the giant pot. Highlights of the trip included s'mores and songs over a campfire, teaching the girls Red Rover (remember that game?), a hike to waterfalls where we only got mildly lost and not having to talk about Cars 2.

I started the troop after realizing I had entirely too much free time on my hands. Um, right. What happened was, Sabrina couldn't join an after-school troop because I'm at work then, no other ones in our area met in the evenings and I wanted her to have the experience. Before I committed to it, I asked a friend's advice. She said, "What's one more thing you don't have time to do?"

Our Brownie troop is run as a co-op, which helps—I plan activities and outings, order supplies and pass along news and information, and moms take turns running meetings. I often find myself staring at my computer screen at 12:30 a.m. catching up on emails and organizing things, which takes twice as long to do when it's twelve freaking thirty in the morning.

No worries, I won't be begging you to buy Girl Scout cookies because I already polished off the boxes we had left, although next cookie season I might ask you to come to my house and physically restrain me from reaching for Samoas.

The girls are awesome. A couple of parents have made things a leetle challenging, and I will just leave it at that. Soon I'll be getting First Aid and CPR training (useful life skills to have), along with becoming Outdoor Certified so I can start campfires (a useful life skill for working in an office, should we ever get stuck there in an emergency without electricity and we need to make s'mores).

Last week, Sabrina asked "Mommy, are you going to be the leader next year? I like that you're the leader." Which made it all worth it. Because I do so much for Max, and this is one thing that's all about her.

I was a girl scout for 7 years. My mom was the cookie mom for all 7 years. It was a lot of fun. Those campouts can prove rather interesting though. Especially those "Assocation Weekends" when all the area troops are together. Good times... I just hope your campground is not leech infested like ours was. But if it is salt gets leechs off fast. I better stop rambling now even though I have tons of advice to give.

The cognitive neuropsychologist in me suggests that Max might not care about a fresh-smelling bathroom, but rather that he's gaining the ability to process more complex routines. His mommy generally uses the freshener spray after helping him in the bathroom, and he notices something's missing from the scenario when his daddy doesn't do the same. This is a different take on Max's achievement (consideration for others doesn't enter into it), but still a biggie (unless you had your heart set on his helping with housekeeping!). I bet you'll be seeing him understanding more and more complex scenarios, and you'll be able to expect more cooperation from him, such as: Going to a restaurant involves not just ordering mac&cheese and then eating mac&cheese, but also staying in your seat while the family relaxes over dessert.

Man, I love when cognitive neuropsychologists visit here! This is really helpful (and heartening) to hear. And it would be fab to see more cooperation in restaurants. Not yet losing hope that Max will help with housekeeping. :) Thank you so much for the insights.

I too am a proud GS leader, despite having a "challenging" relationship with my co-leader this year, I've discovered it's something I really enjoy (and so do my girls!) And I am so proud of the Girl Scouts Inclusion Policy-"Girl Scouts of the USA and its local councils and troops value diversity and inclusiveness and do not discriminate or recruit on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, national origin, or physical or developmental disability."

Might I suggest something else? Being a Christian I personally do not belive in the things they promote (gay rights, abortion,allowing transgender kids) so I su$est American Heritage Girls. they are chris centered. I agree about those cookies though, last year i must have gained 30 pounds in c9kid!

I am all for the Girl Scouts inclusionary approach that Patty M mentions above. I think it's very, very important to encourage girls in America to be open-minded in whatever ways possible, whether in a formalized group or through the parenting we do. As the parent of a child with special needs, this is particularly important to me.

Anonymous, Ellen's family is Jewish, so I don't think that's an issue! I have to say, good for you, Ellen. Girl Scouts (Girl Guides in Canada) was one of the most rewarding experiences of my childhood. Plenty of my friends would say the same thing. I have so many fond memories of the experience. My mom wasn't a formal leader but she would help on campouts, and that was always a treat. Sabrina is going to learn SO much and make some wonderful friends. Good for you for having her participate and for participating yourself!

So glad you had a nice time - I love the pictures, especially the one of you and Sabrina together. I am sure that you will be great with this, just like you always have been great at everything that you do.

I LOVED being in brownies and girl scouts as a kid. Good for you and how nice for you and Sabrina to have something special together. I'd been wondering about signing up my daughter for girl scouts. Unlike a team or a dance class, it's something where her differences wouldn't affect the rest of the group as much so I wonder if she might be able to handle it (WITHOUT me there-- I'm SO NOT going to volunteer to be the leader! :)

Do you sleep? :) You are such an awesome mom & your kids are ridiculously cute & cool. This just proves it a little bit more, as if that was needed.I was never the scout type - or organized group activity type - as a kid. But man, if they'd told me back then that there'd be those cookies, I would've so been in.